Sam Altman with the Microsoft board returned the helm at OpenAI

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman announced his return to the company and his role as CEO on Wednesday, a week after the company agreed to step back after being unceremoniously ousted by OpenAI's then-current board of directors.

Major investor Microsoft is now represented on the new board. But it doesn't get votes.

“I've never been more excited about the future,” Altman said in the announcement. “I'm very grateful for everyone's hard work in this unprecedented and unprecedented situation, and I believe our tenacity and spirit make us unique in the industry.

“I feel our chances of success in achieving our mission are very good,” he added.

In the year On November 17, OpenAI's board announced Altman's abrupt removal as CEO. The board's reasoning was that Altman's “persistent lack of candor in his dealings with the board has hindered his ability to fulfill his responsibilities.”

“The board has no confidence in OpenAI's ability to continue to lead,” OpenAI's announcement said. “We believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward.”

The board subsequently appointed CTO Meera Murathi as interim CEO. At the end of her short tenure at the top, she was praised by Altman.

“Mira has done an amazing job through it all, serving the mission, the team and the company so selflessly,” said Altman. “She is an incredible leader, and OpenAI wouldn't be OpenAI without her. Thank you,” said Altman, adding that Murati will return to her CTO role.

“One of the most important things for a team building AGI reliably is the ability to handle stressful and uncertain situations and maintain good judgment,” he said. Main symptoms. Thank you all.”

Altman also announced the new board of directors for OpenAI, which includes Brett Taylor as chairman, replacing former chairman Greg Brockman, economist Larry Summers, and returning board member and Cura founder and CEO Adam D'Angelo. Also joining OpenAI's board in a non-voting role will be the company's largest investor, Microsoft.

“We build on qualified, diverse individuals whose collective experience represents the breadth of OpenAI's mission – from technology to security to policy. We are pleased that this board includes Microsoft's non-voting observer.

On Twitter, Altman said D'Angelo should be on OpenAI's board and not a conflict of interest.

“During this process, I became aware that some questions had been raised about Adam's conflict of interest in running Quora and Poe while on the OpenAI board,” Altman wrote. “For the record, I would like to state that Adam has always dealt with potential conflicts with me and the board and done everything he had to do (rejecting himself when necessary and leaving the board if necessary) to properly manage this situation and avoid conflicting decisions.”

While Altman was out of OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he would hire Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman—who resigned after Altman's ouster—to lead Microsoft's advanced AI research group. That bold move never came.

“Satya [Nadella]Kevin [Scott]Amy [Hood]And Brad [Smith] All the while the right priorities have been incredible partners,” Altman said. “They had our backs and were ready to accept all of us if we couldn't reach our primary goal.

“We clearly made the right choice to partner with Microsoft, and I'm pleased that our new board will include non-voting observers,” Altman said.

On November 22, 72 hours after being removed from OpenAI, both Altman and Brockman were reinstated as CEO and President, respectively.

“I look forward to finishing the work of building useful AGI with all of you—the world's best team and the world's best mission,” concluded Altman.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.